Indiana Eugenics

Indiana Eugenics

Indiana was the first government in the world to pass a eugenic sterilization law. The state sterilized 2,500 people from 1907-to-1974. Indiana apologized for implementing the program earlier this year, on the 100th anniversary of its inception. A five-part news series on history of Eugenics in Indiana.

Listen

Indiana Eugenics, Part 1: The Eugenics Movement
Listen
Indiana Eugenics, Part 1: The Eugenics Movement
September 25, 2007

Eugenics supporters believed they could improve society with sterilization and other progressive...

Indiana Eugenics, Part 2: Legalization
Listen
Indiana Eugenics, Part 2: Legalization
September 25, 2007

In the second installment of the five part series WFYI's Mary Hartnett explores how the state...

Indiana Eugenics, Part 3: The Process
Listen
Indiana Eugenics, Part 3: The Process
September 25, 2007

In part three of the series, a look at how the process worked and why the program finally ended....

Indiana Eugenics, Part 4: Speaking Up
Listen
Indiana Eugenics, Part 4: Speaking Up
September 25, 2007

Indiana enforced a eugenic law that allowed institutions to sterilize the "mentally defective"...

Indiana Eugenics, Part 5: A New Kind Of Eugenics?
Listen
Indiana Eugenics, Part 5: A New Kind Of Eugenics?
September 25, 2007

These days, a lot ethicists, scientists and sociologists say we are in a new eugenics era....

> View All Audio

Related News

Marion County report shows needs around mental health, housing, health care, and infant mortality
Health / March 5, 2026

Marion County report shows needs around mental health, housing, health care, and infant mortality

The top five concerns identified through the health assessment are mental health and wellbeing, access to health care, housing, trauma and injury prevention, and infant mortality.
Read More
Health department to track air pollution in West Indianapolis
Health / February 19, 2026

Health department to track air pollution in West Indianapolis

After more than a century of exposure to pollution from multiple sources that has led to higher rates of lung cancer and lung disease than in other parts of the county, West Indianapolis will soon have its own network of air monitors.
Read More
Nearly half of Indiana's hospitals are operating at a loss. They say they need help
Health / January 27, 2026

Nearly half of Indiana's hospitals are operating at a loss. They say they need help

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” will cut $13 billion to Indiana Hospitals over the next decade. Indiana Hospitals say they are already in trouble.
Read More